More data improvements on their way

Last week Regional Tourism Organisations NZ (RTONZ) organised a workshop with MBIE to help the industry better understand how to make the most of data that is available to us, as well as find out what improvements are on their way.

Data has long been a much debated topic in the industry; tourism marketers have a healthy hunger for regional and meaningful statistics! Since the establishment of the tourism data industry reference group four years ago, a number of improvements have been made – and there are more to come.

A key point made by the team was that there are different dataset products for different audiences for different purposes. They are keenly aware there are still gaps, and demonstrated an intent to plug these, while managing their resources and priorities. Key upcoming developments include an interactive dashboard and regional landing pages – both of which should make accessing and understanding the data exists easier for us all.

Commercial Accommodation Monitor (CAM) – August results came out 12 October

A mainstay of the data family, the CAM probably needs no introduction. It’s your go-to for understanding monthly commercial guest nights in the city and region, as well as tracking growth and splits across the domestic and international markets. The latest results were again strong for Wellington, with almost 83,000 more domestic commercial guest nights spent in the 11 months since the launch of the It's Never Just a Weekend when it's in Wellington campaign last October.

Regional Economic Activity Report 2015 – launched yesterday

The Regional Economic Activity Report presents comprehensive economic data on New Zealand’s 16 regions. It highlights the strengths and challenges each region faces and is a useful tool to support planning at all levels. The report is also accompanied by an easy-to-use web tool and app – the latter being pretty handy for calling up data when topics come up in conversation over coffee or in meetings. As well as insight into the Wellington economy, you may find this useful as a snapshot into what’s happening in your key source markets.

Tourism Satellite Account 2015 – launching 27 October

Statistics New Zealand’s annual Tourism Satellite Account brings together a range of data to provide a picture of the role tourism plays in New Zealand, including the changing levels and impact of tourism activity and the industry’s contribution to the economy. It may be useful in providing national context to your business plans or proposals.

Regional Tourism Estimates – launching 10 November

Not to be confused with the monthly Regional Tourism Indicators, the annual RTEs provide absolute dollar estimates of tourism expenditure at a detailed regional level. It’s worth noting that this year’s release will be impacted by recent revisions to the International Visitor Survey methodology, which means earlier versions of the RTEs should be discarded and the new tables downloaded for any analysis against years prior. Further details on this on MBIE’s site.

NZ Tourism Dashboard – due to launch later this year

The development we are most excited about is the launch of a new dashboard product that will offer an interactive, visual and easy way to access and analyse regional data. When this is live, users will be able to:

- Access regional summaries

- Filter data by their choice of territorial authority or regional council